Page:History of Greece Vol X.djvu/434

 412 HISTORY OF GREECE surprise, but also insisted upor Marching back thither himself by land with the Syracusan forces, and abandoning the farther de- fence of Himera. He would in his march home meet his fellow- citizens on their march outward, and conduct them back along with him. To the Himerasans, this was a sentence of death, or worse than death. It plunged them into an agony of fright and despair. But there was no safer counsel to suggest, nor could they prevail upon Diokles to grant anything more than means of trans- port for carrying off the Himeraean population, when the city was relinquished to the besiegers. It was agreed that the fleet, in- stead of sailing straight to Syracuse, should employ itself in car- rying off as much of the population as could be put on board, and in depositing them safely at Messene ; after which it would return to fetch the remainder, who would in the mean time defend the city with their utmost force. Such was the frail chance of refuge now alone open to these unhappy Greeks, against the devouring enemy without. Imme- diately the feebler part of the population, elders, women, and children, crowding on board until the triremes could hold no more, sailed away along the northern, coast to Messene. On the same night, Diokles also marched out of the city with his Syracusan soldiers ; in such haste to get home, that he could not even tarry to bury the numerous Syracusan soldiers who had been just slain in the recent disastrous sally. Many of the Himerseans, with their wives and children, took their departure along with Diokles, as their only chance of escape ; since it was but too plain that the tri- remes could not carry away all. The bravest and most devoted portion of the Himersean warriors still remained, to defend their city until the triremes came back. After keeping armed watch on the walls all night, they were again assailed on the next morning by the Carthaginians, elate with their triumph of the preceding day and with the flight of so many defenders. Yet notwithstanding ail the pressure of numbers, ferocity, and battering machines, the re- sistance was still successfully maintained ; so that night found Himera still a Grecian city. On the next day, the triremes came back, having probably deposited their unfortunate cargo in some place of safety not so far off as Messene. If the defenders could have maintained their walls until another sunset, many of them might yet have escaped. But the good fortune, and probably the